How to Clean Peridot

Until recently, the brilliant green Peridot gemstone had faded into obscurity because of a lack of supply. However, in the mid-1990s, a spectacular new deposit was discovered high up in the mountains of Pakistan, relaunching the luster and reputation of this gemstone, which dates back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt. Separately, the San Carlos Indian Reservation in Arizona has risen to prominence as the world’s number one purveyor of peridot products.

While Egyptians christened this gemstone the “gem of the sun”, the word peridot actually comes from the Arab word for gem, “faridat”. Today, peridot has a recommended regimen of care that is probably the same as the one used when it was first discovered near the Red Sea: warm water and soap. Anything fancier, such as steam cleaning or ultrasonic technologies, risks damaging the stone.

While most peridot is formed deep inside the earth’s crust and then brought to the surface by the eruption of volcanoes, there is a rare and much more fantastic strain of this August birthstone. A small amount of peridot has come to the earth in meteorites and is referred to by scientists as olivine.

Still, for consumers who prefer some sort of specialized cleaning solution and-or polishing cloth, there are companies that make it their business to offer those products for peridot and other gemstones. For example, Presentation Box and Display manufactures eight-ounce jars of gem and jewelry cleaners that it advertises as being suitable for peridot. It also offers to retailers an ultra electric jewelry-cleaning machine. All products are being offered to retailers with the idea that they in turn can be private labeled and sold directly to the consumer.